Closure for containers



Oct. 21 1924.

w. A. LORENZ CLOSURE PO11 COSTA Filed May '24. 1.923

, Znvenim" Patented Oct. 21, 1924.

UNITED STATES WILLIAM A. LORENZ, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

CLOSURE'FOR con'ramnns.

Application filed May 24, 1923. Serial No. 641,248.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, \VILLIAM A. LORENZ, a citizen of United States, residing at Hartford, in the county of Hartford and Stateof Connecticut, have invented new and useful Improvements in Closures for Containers, of which the followlng is aspecification.

This invention relates to improved means for closing the tops of jars, tumblers, or

other containers. This closure is adapted for sealing receptacles containing cold or hot products, or for sealing them with the use of a vacuum.

The sealing of containers presents many difficulties. The glass packages vary in size and in structure, even when made in molds identically alike; this is due to the warping of the hot glass while cooling, or while being annealed. The molds have to be polished out frequently so that eventually they become of a different size in some of their dimensions. The object of the present inventionis to overcome these difficulties so that the container will be sealed properly and be kept sealed.

In thedrawings Figure 1 shows a plan view of a piece of sheet metal, with the four corners 8, 8', 8, 8 removed. and before it is drawn into cap form. Fig. 2 shows a.

container with a drawn cap and gasket in section, taken on the line 2-2 of Fig.1. Fig. 3 shows a drawn cap and gasket in section on the line 33 of Fig. 1, placed on a container and in unsealed condition. Fig.

4 shows the parts of Fig. 3 in section on the line 4-4of Fig. 1, sealed. Fig. 5 shows the parts of Fig. 4 with a container having a different sized shoulder. Fig. 6 shows the parts in section taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 1, with the spring catches engaging the shoulder of the container. Fig. 7 shows a detached cap taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 1.

The container 10 may be ofany desired form. It has a rounded rim 11, and a shoulder 12. The cap.14 of Fig. 7 may be drawn from the blank 15-of Fig. 1. The

' cap may have a deep rim or flange all around, or it may have a shallow rim portion 16, 16, and deeper rim portions 17, 17, that are formed respectively from the parts 18 and 19 of Fig. 1. The dotted lines 20 in Fig. 1. indicate where the cap rim is turned down, when drawn in the cap die. The cap rim is made slightly larger than the upper part of the container.

ing adapted to The cap 14 is provided with four spring catches, 22, 22, 22, 22; and also four shortspring fingers 23, 23, 23, 23, and four long sprlng fingers 24,24, 24, 24. The number of these catches or fingers may be varied. The container 10 is provided with a shoulder 12, that may be alike'for all containers; or this shoulder may be wider as at 25, than that of the other figures.

If the shoulders 12 are spring fingers 23, 23, will der 1 2, when the cap 14 contamer 10, and a given amount of pressure is exerted on the cap to press it down; the will move the cap from the unsealed posltlon in Fig. 3, to the sealed position in Flg. 4; the gasket 28 will be compressed, and the long spring fingers 24, 24, will engage the shoulder 12, as in Fig. 4. If then the shoulder 25 is wider, as at 25 in Fig. 5, the short spring fingers 23, 23, will engage the shoulder in sealing position. To open the cap a knife blade may be inserted at 29 so as to bend the fingers 23 outwardly; admit air to 'the container by llftlng the cap ,a trifle or bending the cap rim outwardly a little.

When the cap has been removed from the contalner, 1t may be replaced on the contamer by pushing the cap down and allowmg the four spring catches 22, 22, 22, 22,

alike in width, the engage the shoulis placed on the to engage the shoulder 12, or shoulder 25, the

beveled inner faces of the spring catches bespring and thus hold the cap in place.

I claim as my invention:

1. In combination a container having a shoulder near its upper edge and a cap having a r1m provided with resilient inwardly bent fingers adapted .to have their upper ends engage beneath said shoulder, said im also having spring fingers bent intermedlate their ends to engage beneath said shoulder and having their free ends bent outwardly. A

2. In combination a container having a shoulder adjacent its open edge, a cap having a rim provided with a plurality of resilient inwardly bent and upwardly extending fingers, the upper ends of which are adapted to engage said shoulder when the cap is in sealing position, said rim also having spring fingers bent intermediate their ends to provide shoulders adapted to engage the shoulder of said container after beyond the shoulder the package has been opened andthe cap the package has been opened and the cap replaced, and a gasket between said cap and container, saidfirst mentioned fingers being 15 all different lengths to successively engage said shoulder.

Signed at Hartford, Connecticut this 28rd day of May, 1923.

WILLIAM A. LORENZ. Witnesses I). MAUDE SMITH, LILLIAN M. TAYLOR. 

